I've been at it for weeks now with my 1984 scirocco 8v and I'm still stuck.. I've had the timing set and reset numerous times. The problem is that the car is running and driving as if i have a choke on. The mechanics that I work with and I have done our best to weed out and fix or replace broken wires, connectors, and vacuum lines to sort out anything besides mechanical issues. The car is running VERY rich. I went thru 5 gallons of gas in 30 miles and only 3 hours of running and tweeking. This is on its 5th set of spark plugs and a new o2 sensor now.. Most online articles refer to a coolant temp sensor, but I am unsure which sensor out of 6 that I've located are the correct one. I've had the car at a good idle with solid revvs but when I attempt to drive it. it just sputters and bucks until I get into a higher rpm when it takes off like nothing is wrong. This happens at the base of every gear and I have yet to even drive it in 5th gear because it feels like the car may rattle apart. It is supposed to be my daily driver and time's running up with it. Any help is greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!

The coolant temp sensor that is referred to is the "Lambda Temp Sensor". Your '84 'rocco is German built and, like the cabriolet, they changed a bunch of stuff mid-year. Depending on how early/late yours is, you will find the Lambda temp sensor in one of two locations:
Early: It's on a metal water pipe next to the engine toward the driver's side.
Late: It's on the flange where the upper rad hose meets the head, but on the underside of the flange.
In both cases it is easy to recognize as it is the only sensor that has only two wires that have separate, plastic connectors. What I mean is most sensors with 2 wires have both wires in a single, plastic connector. For instance, look at your coil. On one side you have 2 wires in a single, plastic connector. On the other side you have 2 wires in separate, plastic connectors. Look for the sensor on that pipe or on the flange that has only 2 wires that are separate.
If you have the later version, you will have 3 sensors on the head flange. They are the thermo-time switch, the water temp sensor (for the gauge) and, underneath, the Lambda temp switch. If you have the early model, your flange will only have the thermo-time and the water temp sensor.
If you remove the connectors and measure resistance after the car has been sitting overnight it should read closed, which tells the Lambda controller to ignore the O2 sensor because it's cold. If it reads open then the switch is bad and the car will run too rich until the O2 sensor warms up.
As FKH has noted, you must get a dwell or duty cycle meter and check for proper operation of the frequency valve and the Lambda controller.

To be honest, it sounds like one of three things is wrong:
1. A large vacuum leak, which causes you to over-rich the mix at idle, which causes it to be too rich at all speeds. This leads to the crappy running and hesitation at lower RPM's that you describe as too much unmetered air is entering the intake.
2. Your timing belt has hopped or your overall timing is off.
3. Your Cold Start Valve is leaking or the thermo-time switch is faulty and causing the cold start valve to stay on. This will cause all the symptoms you've listed.

Thomas

http://www.mikegabriel.net/vw/badhabitrabbit/fpressure.html

Google... there are more.

Good to hear you got it solved!

I can only remember one instance where I too had an ignition module that acted like a fuel problem.

Most of the time repairs are straight forward... sometimes you gotta dig & dig.